Grace or Works

It Is Written, Romans 11:6, and if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
Many of us try to do our best when it comes to being what we consider a good Christian. We make up our minds that we need to do certain things in order to accomplish that. Many of us compare ourselves to other people. If they seem to us like they have the answer, chances are we will try to do the same thing.
If we don't measure up to them, we feel like a failure. The Bible is a good example. Some people read the Bible for a couple of hours at a time. When we can't seem to do that, we condemn ourselves. At that point satan steps in to tell you how weak you are, and what a bad Christian you are.
This can happen with giving, being kind, praying, any number of things. satan will use them all to convince you that you aren't good enough and God is disappointed in you. This is an Old Testament works attitude.
We must always remember that we are righteous through Jesus grace. Jesus did it all, and freed us from works which were never good enough. Since Jesus did it all, we no longer have to worry about earning salvation or anything else.
Because of grace, the things we do should honor God, and thank Him. We should try to imitate Jesus as much as possible, and reflect Him to everyone we meet. If we don't measure up once in a while, we just start over and do our best. It is okay. God still loves us.
If we do everything out of love and Thanksgiving for God's grace, satan is wasting his time. We are under grace and not the law. Praise the Lord.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive all my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

On Your Way

It Is Written,1 John 2:25, and this is the promise that he has promised us, eternal life.
There are a number of what I will call new Christians out there. Many of these people are not sure of some things. They sometimes do not understand the next step. They aren't sure what God expects. I have listed the following hints to get started.
When you accept Jesus as your Savior, all of your sins, past, present, and future have been forgiven, by the grace of God, and Jesus crucifixion. With grace, you don't want to sin. We all do from time to time, and even though they are forgiven, we should acknowledge the sin before God.
The 10 Commandments are a start. We must realize that there were over 600 Commandments. As far as I know, there is no list of these Commandments in order. Even if we could just read them all, we probably wouldn't remember them all.
So you wonder, what do I do? Should I worry about losing salvation? Positively not! The answer is simple, and at the same time very difficult for a lot of people. For some reason, many people cannot accept the idea that the answers to everything, are in the Bible.
The Bible is the word of God. All of the Commandments are sprinkled through it. Don't expect each one to have a number in front of it. The common excuses for not reading the Bible are, I don't have time, or it is too hard to understand. If someone handed us 1000 page book, written in a foreign language, and told us that the location of $1 billion is contained in that book, would you find a way to read it?
The Bible is the key to the will of God, and eternity with Him. Much more valuable than just money. A study Bible takes the mystery out of it. What the Bible says, is what it means. We cannot pick out what we believe or not. We cannot decide what God really meant. He said what He really meant. If you bake a cake, play a game, or whatever else, if you don't follow the instructions, you will not have a good result.
If you are a person who cares about other people, give your time and/or money to help someone, recognizes your blessings and thanks God, forgives other people, you are well on your way. The Holy Spirit put all that into your heart. He is that little voice that talks to most of us. You are pleasing God, and He is calling you because He loves you.
The greatest treasure ever, is in that book. The word of God, the Bible. Praise the Lord!
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and  resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

Hug Jesus

It Is Written, Jeremiah 17: 7, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord"
Have you ever watched the movie like Jesus of Nazareth? It is Jesus who raises  Jairus daughter from the dead. As a little girl comes to life, she gives Jesus a big hug. It may sound silly, but when that happened, I got tears in my eyes, and envied the little girl because she was able to do that.
Every time the word says Jesus healed someone, I don't recall a time that it mentions the healed person hugging Him. As a matter of fact, there are only a couple of people who thanked Him.
It is easy for us to judge these people. How ungrateful, can they be? Well my friends, the sad truth is, most of us never thank God for all of our  blessings. I am sure that if we did, He would smile.
I like to think that if I had an encounter with Jesus, I would squeeze Him so hard, that He would ask me to ease up a little, so He could breathe. Since I cannot do that in person, I found the way in His word to feel like I am hugging Him. He said "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me".
I will work hard to plant seeds of salvation, feed the poor, heal the sick, and reflect Jesus to everyone I meet. And when I see Him in person, I am going to give Him that hug. For Him, but especially for me. Praise the Lord.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

God's Plan And Faith

 It Is Written, James 1:3, " knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience".

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who live by what God says, and those who live by what the world says. I won't really get into the world person, except for a small comment. When you live by what the world says, you make all your own decisions, including where you will be in a couple of hundred years. Along with the world system, comes fear, chaos, and an unhappy life. That's all I will say about that.
Real Christians have other problems. These problems are of a different nature, and can be ended whenever the Christian says so.
Many Christians run around trying to follow God's plan. After many years I think I found the answer. The strategy I follow is simple. First thing every morning I ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance . Then I read the word. I go about my routine, checking with the Holy Spirit to help with all decisions.
I believe we are where we are supposed to be in God's plan. If we communicate with the Holy Spirit, He will put on our heart when it is time to do something else. Stick to it. Doors will open at the right time. The time before the doors open is preparation time for the next step. If we wait for the Holy Spirit, the change will be successful.
I believe regardless of what we do, no matter what kind of job, or where we go, it is for God's purpose. Your are probably there at that time, to meet someone that God has sent to you, to help them find Him.
I look at what I do, for instance with these messages, going out to eat, shopping, all as opportunities to plant seeds. God uses each one of us to be the contact for someone to come to Him. Don't look down on what you do, or envy someone else. God needs all of us. Just as a jumbo jet has thousands and thousands of parts in order to fly. Even if the tiniest most insignificant part was missing, it would not fly.
God's garden won't grow, unless we plant the seeds. That is what we are here for.

Prayer of salvation;
"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past., Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."
Always remember;
Jesus Loves You

Fear Of Gods Will

it is written,1 Corinthians 1:18, "for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God".
Have you ever noticed the reaction of different people when you mention Jesus or God? The reactions range from total indifference, to absolute anger. It really is amazing the way emotions are stirred up.
Let's take a look at some examples. I use these examples because I witnessed them. If you read these examples, I think you'll agree that some of the reactions are a bit excessive.
I was taking insulin for type II diabetes. We prayed for healing, that is exactly what happened. I was healed. My wife and I were excited, and wanted to tell everyone. We told a close relative, and they dismissed the  healing as nothing. They attributed it to physical exercise or possibly diet change or whatever, which was not true of course. Other people looked at us as though we had three heads. Some said, "that's nice". Even a couple of Christians were skeptical.
When my wife and I get a good set of CDs, a book or a movie, that teaches us something about the word of God, we try to share them with others. We get extra copies to pass around. Usually after a month or so, we ask, how did you like it? Answer 9 times out of 10 is, I have been so busy I didn't have time to check it out.
People are so quick to pass things off, or ignore them. We are not trying to push Jesus down anyone's throat, but they sure act like it. I have come to the conclusion that a lot of these people ignore Jesus, or hate Him because they are either afraid that He will do something they don't like, or they don't want to be accountable for their actions. The old head in the sand thing.
It is like people are in a card game by choice, and they don't know what the stakes are. You cannot avoid a problem by not acknowledging it. Whether people believe the beginning verse or not, what it says, is what it is. The best thing you can do for yourself or someone else, is to pray for the Holy Spirit to enlighten them.
When someone is saved, and you mention Jesus, you'll see smiles and excitement, and someone who wants to talk about Him.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

Judging God

It Is Written, Matthew 7:1, " judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you".
Almost everyone you know, and that includes you and I, have judged God. We think we can do better, just by the statements we make. Most of us find fault with everything and everybody. We let our pride take over, by saying I would never do that. When we criticize God's creation, we are saying that God did not do as good a job as we would have done.
One of the most often used, and worn-out excuses, is a reference to the God of the Old Testament. How could a so-called loving God, slaughter women, children, and even their animals. This is the most often used excuse for rejecting God.
First of all, people who think this way, either didn't read the Bible, or didn't understand it. The God of the Old Testament is our God. From the beginning He wanted everyone to be saved.
God spoke to the patriarchs, Moses, the Prophets. The land was full of idol worshipers. They had God's for everything. They had no formal teachings to go by until Moses. The law that God gave Moses showed them how they really were.
When God rescued His chosen people from Egypt, I think it was like a fresh start for His people without destroying everyone again. He gave them the land that was inhabited by ungodly, sinful people. He told them to take the land and destroy everything and everyone, so the Israelites would not be led astray again.
Even after all of that, they still went back to idols. I guess if I was God,none of us would be here today. God's love and patience, is incredible, and His forgiveness goes beyond what anyone could possibly hope for.
God sent Jesus as Savior. Jesus was rejected by most people, in spite of His teaching and miracles. He was not just rejected, He was killed. Sent to save us, we destroyed Him, and spit in God's face.
Fast forward to today. Most of the world still hates Jesus. I don't understand how you can hate something or someone, you don't even know.
The world takes God and Jesus out of everything. In some places you can be killed for using Jesus name. All sorts of idols exist and are worshiped every day. Everything that can be an abomination to God is a part of everyday life.
When a disaster or some sort of terrible thing happens, everyone wants to know why God allowed it. If someone dies, the family wants to know why God let them die. Most of these people who question or blame God, have lived without God, and hate His son.
We have to conclude that God really does love us, because He has not destroyed us and is still willing to forgive us. If you and I must judge God, we must love Him for His love, mercy, and blessings in spite of how we are.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

Prayer With Feeling

It Is Written 1 Corinthians 2:5, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Those of us who grew up with memorized prayer, usually had no clue about what the prayers actually said, and faith was not connected with them in most cases. This often lead to problems down the road in our prayer lives. I believe the answer to this dilemma came to me by way of the Holy Spirit.

Before I tell you, I would like to explore a few things about prayer. I don't think I was the only one with questions. Patience please.

We have all heard about people feeling a warm sensation, and said they felt what they described as like a flow of electricity, and other various feelings like tingles or whatever. Some preachers with big-time healing ministries, have talked about feeling power in an arm, or a hand. And they would not even pray for someone to be healed until they felt that.

Now for us average folks. We pray for healing for someone, and we don't feel anything. Our brains have set us up for failure by comparing us to the people I mentioned. We did not feel what they did. As a result, deep in our hearts we did not expect the healing to happen.

You have probably felt as frustrated and disappointed as I did. So you try harder to build your faith, so you can be someone who feels something positive when you pray. It doesn't work that way. Read on.

The other day I was sitting in my car waiting for my wife. She was in a store for quite a while. I happen to notice an old couple coming to the store. She was struggling pushing a walker, and her husband was bent over, and having an equally hard time walking. I was wondering why they didn't park in a handicapped spot 10 feet from the door.

As this couple passed me, I blessed them in Jesus name, and asked Him to bring them salvation if they weren't saved already. I really hoped for a feeling that the prayer was answered. Human nature I guess.

Just then I felt that small voice in my heart. I am sure it was the Holy Spirit. He said to me, what makes you think that your prayer was not answered? God knows your heart. When you pray for someone, it is because I lead you to. Prayers always come from your spirit, and my power is connected to them. You just pray, I make it happen.

satan works on your brain all the time. If he can get you disappointed, because you didn't feel anything, he has created a block to that prayer. Your spirit can make your brain stop the negative stuff if you let it. Tune the brain out, and your spirit will do the rest.

When you pray, regardless of what your brain says, the spirit will always work. You don't have to feel anything, or do anything else. The Holy Spirit I believe led you to pray, so you do your part and He will do His.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Thank You

Amen